Age of Feeling: Episode 11

The gangs of Shanghai take up precedence this hour as they join in a mad scramble to get a dead man to his funeral in time. And not just anyone’s funeral mind you, since whosoever holds the body of the almighty and dearly departed father to Jung-tae gains untold riches and power… or something of the sort. It’s a little tough to explain, mostly because it’s not really explained. It’s the most morbid game of hot potato ever, pretty much.

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EPISODE 11 RECAP

It’s just like the old days with Ok-ryun caring for an unconscious Jung-tae, only this time she’s got the help of Doctor Jung, who I’m guessing just moonlights as a hot water saleswoman/innkeeper.

Since she and Ok-ryun are on an unni/dongsaeng basis, she ribs the younger girl over her pining and waiting for Jung-tae over the past five years. Ok-ryun becomes embarrassed and defends herself, all, Who was waiting? I wasn’t! Mmhmm.

It really is deja vu (in a nice way) watching her wait through the night for Jung-tae to come back to his senses. A tear escapes her eye as she mutters, “Jerk.”

While getting everything ready for Daddy Shin’s official funeral, Leader Seol orders a somewhat-reticent Baek-san to retrieve Jung-tae himself. He’s set on moving Jung-tae’s heart so he’ll continue his father’s legacy, which apparently includes the very important work of running Club Shanghai.

Meanwhile, Jae-hwa tries getting handsy with Doctor Jung (which would explain why he took her previous night’s scolding without complaint), only to have her stick an air-filled syringe in his hand with the threat that she’ll push the plunger down.

It’s kind of funny how he racks his brain to remember what would happen, like a student reciting a lesson for a teacher. Only he sounds much too happy with himself when he remembers that air in the bloodstream would cause death, causing Doctor Jung to just shake her head and brush him off. This is a routine they’re used to.

Jae-hwa tries introducing himself amicably when Jung-tae stirs awake, though it’s understandable that Jung-tae’s more than a little wary. Even I’m having a little trouble following Jae-hwa’s sudden about-face, since it was only last night that he had Jung-tae attacked. (Maybe it’s a ruse?)

He acknowledges that his men attacked Jung-tae, but passes it off as being due to the unstable situation in Shanghai that came about since Daddy Shin’s passing. When he introduces Jung-tae as Daddy Shin’s son, all his men bow respectfully.

Jae-hwa acts like the scuffle is all water under the bridge/a friendly bout of hazing, since Jung-tae is their new honorary gang member. But when Jung-tae refuses to follow him to collect his father’s body for the funeral, citing that he doesn’t care, Jae-hwa is shocked. Would he care if his father’s body was dumped somewhere to become food for wild animals? Jung-tae: “No. To me, my father died a long time ago.”

Jae-hwa continues with the graphic analogies, and really seems to be putting his heart into it as he tells Jung-tae that his father, the man who practically ran Shanghai, now lays stabbed and beaten by his murderer. “Aren’t you even curious as to which son of a bitch did that to your father?” he asks.

Though Jung-tae stays stone-faced, his voice is unsteady as he replies, “No. I’m not curious at all.”

Outside, Jung-tae is met by Ok-ryun, who tells him to go retrieve his father’s body. “I know who your father was to you,” she says by way of comfort. “I also know how much you hated him.” But she’s arguing for him to care because she doesn’t have the same luxury with her own mother, who died on their way to China (from the gunshot I presume), and whose body they had to leave in the river.

She also mentions that they had to do the same with Ajusshi Choi, though I don’t know whether this is a plot inconsistency (since he never boarded the boat), or whether she’s just assuming that he died from the gunfight. No mention of Soo-ok, of course, but Ok-ryun’s point is that she’d do anything to have a grave to mourn over.

Now that Jung-tae has that opportunity, she won’t let him pass it up out of his overriding spite. Jung-tae apologizes for her loss as well as the loss of the gibang to the Japanese, since no one told him what happened at Shineuijoo or what happened to her. (Did he maybe try asking?)

Ok-ryun: “Since I didn’t know what happened to you, I guess we can call this even.” Jung-tae apologizes to her before she leaves him, and joins Jae-hwa in retrieving his father’s body.

Kaya’s got her unimpressed face on as she reads about the upcoming funeral, especially so when one of her minions explains how Hwangbang (Leader Seol’s gang) got the backing of an important pseudo-governmental/public security body in Shanghai called Chilinbang.

She knows Leader Seol plans to use the funeral and his ties with Chilinbang to push her out and take over Club Shanghai. And she is Not Having It.

But, she’s got to take care of business first. She threatens the lackey who started the fight at Club Shanghai that she’ll gouge his eyes out and cut his ears off before sending his severed head to his family, whereupon she will kill his wife and children the same way she killed him while his severed head gets to watch.

Before the lackey can give up a nervous Yamamoto as the man behind it all, Kaya kills him. The excuse she gives Yamamoto is that she didn’t want the uttered name to cause discord in their group, but what she’s saying is clearly a threat—she’s onto Yamamoto, and effectively scared him into obedience by killing his lackey. Now he’ll do whatever she wants.

Ah, so Jae-hwa did have an ulterior motive by being nice to Jung-tae—he didn’t have Leader Seol’s permission to fetch the body from the morgue. Jae-hwa’s plans aren’t all that nefarious all things considered, since he plans on bringing Daddy Shin’s body so that he can hold the funeral and prove to the world that he’s the man to run Club Shanghai in Daddy Shin’s likeness.

Even Kaya is in on the Musical Coffins game, since she’s getting live updates on the body’s location and is all but placing bets on who will really end up with it. Since she’s got Yamamoto guarding the road in, she’s expecting quite a spectacle.

At the morgue, Jung-tae is able to confirm his father’s body and receives his personal effects. Baek-san shows up to insistently tell Jung-tae that they’ll handle the body, so he can just go on home now. He does.

Baek-san and Jae-hwa go back and forth about who really has the right to take Daddy Shin’s body, with Baek-san claiming that they’ve got the backing of Chilinbang (y’know, that group that we’ve never heard of before or seen but which holds an untold amount of power, including the ability to threaten Ilgookhwe).

Jae-hwa knows this isn’t so, since part of the reason he wants to escort the body back is so that he’ll win over Chilinbang’s elders. There’s no other way to solve their tiff but a fight—and after Baek-san takes down Jae-hwa’s minions, they decide to take the fight outside.

It’s just Jae-hwa and Baek-san now, and despite the sound effects coming fresh off a tape of the world’s biggest rockslides, they trade powerful blow after powerful blow. Even though Jae-hwa is out of his league against a martial arts master like Baek-san, he doesn’t give up.

The fight ends when Baek-san lands a hard blow to Jae-hwa’s solar plexus, causing the leader wannabe to cough up blood. That means Baek-san, under the auspices of Hwangbang, gains custody of the body.

And naturally, Kaya learns of the events as they’re happening through her personified messenger pigeon, who gives her up-to-the-minute updates on who has the body and their exact GPS location.

Kaya seems to have a darker plan in mind (she wants to meet all these mystical Chilinbang elders) when she tells her minion to send a flower wreath to the funeral under Ilgookhwe’s name and inform them that she’ll be going to pay her respects.

Ok-ryun’s prepared a hot bath so Jung-tae can wash up before the funeral, and it’s only once he’s alone that he goes through his father’s effects, his hands shaking when he comes upon a picture of himself, his sister, and his mother that his father kept in his wallet all this time.

Though he’s remained tearless about his dead father this whole time, he can’t hold back tears when he reads a letter he’d sent to his father as a child, which his father also kept with him always.

After flipping through his father’s bank book, he cries as he asks the void/Daddy Shin why he never tried to find them even one more time before he died. Jung-tae never even got a chance to tell his father how much he hated him. (I’m not kidding, he literally says that.)

Leader Seol is reluctantly apprised of Kaya’s declaration that she’ll be coming to the funeral before he’s made painfully aware of the fact that Ilgookhwe controls the one road into Shanghai that Daddy Shin’s body needs to pass through. Ruh roh. (But if it was on a map, why didn’t they consult it before they planned the route?)

Yamamoto and his men attack Baek-san’s caravan as they’re transporting the body. Yamamoto drives off with it while Baek-san fights off his minions.

Leader Seol hears of this through his personified messenger pigeon and orders out his troops to retrieve the body, because they can’t allow it to fall into Ilgookhwe’s hands…

…No matter that that’s already happened, since Kaya is updated on the success of the body-stealing plan. She smirks to imagine the look on Leader Seol’s face before she tells her messenger to tell Yamamoto (these messengers are sure earning their paychecks today) not to touch the body and to take it to the safest place in the city. She, meanwhile, will go to Hwangbang in her finest Chinese funeral dress.

Ok-ryun escorts Jung-tae as far as she can go on the funeral route, because there’s a law(?) mandate(?) rule(?) which stops her from entering the Shanghai French Concession (basically, a territory owned by China but occupied and even governed by foreign powers). A pass is needed that she doesn’t have.

Before he goes, Jung-tae says, “I’ve never forgotten you, Ok-ryun. When I return, will you tell me about what happened in Shineuijoo?” She doesn’t answer.

Baek-san follows Yamamoto and his men to the house where they plan to keep Daddy Shin’s body, and kills all of Yamamoto’s minions violently and single-handedly. Then it’s down to just him and Yamamoto.

So-so spots Jung-tae as he enters the general funeral grounds for Daddy Shin, but doesn’t understand why he’d be there since he seemed to hate the deceased so much.

Jung-tae deadpans that the funeral is for his father, which So-so doesn’t believe until someone comes to take him to the VIP area. Inside, Leader Seol doesn’t tell him anything about the corpse kerfluffle and tells him to go get properly dressed.

When he’s told that the Chilinbang Elders have arrived, Leader Seol instructs his minion to prepare the coffin anyway. They can fool them until the official ceremony, and hopefully they’ll find the real body before anyone notices.

Because if not, Leader Seol claims that their entire organization will be decimated overnight. Because… wait, why is this a thing, again? Is it because of the all-powerful Chilinbang? I get that there are strong feelings surrounding Daddy Shin’s body, but since when did that coffin house the power to destroy worlds?

Baek-san defeats Yamamoto in a fight (but doesn’t kill him) and takes the body, while Leader Seol greets the guests as they arrive at the funeral.

So-so finds Jung-tae as he’s changing into his white funeral garb and starts smelling his bare chest and tummy like a dog, supposedly to see if he smelled bad—which, according to her, he does.

She uses his smell and the fact that he’s complicit in Daddy Shin’s Hwangbang-based funeral as proof that he’s not his real son. Daddy Shin’s home was in Bangsamtong, and it’s there that his funeral should be held.

Jung-tae is confused, and asks why the location of the funeral is so important. So-so acts like she’s talking to a guy with rocks for brains (which she thinks he is) and tells him that most of the people Daddy Shin saved in Bangsamtong can’t come to the funeral because it’s in the French Concession area of Shanghai, and they don’t have passes to enter.

So-so leaves Jung-tae to think on that, though I’m not sure what she’d like him to do at this point. Can’t they just hold two funerals and make everyone happy?

Kaya arrives at the funeral in time to greet the Chilinbang Elders, whom she treats with almost saccharine pleasantness and respect—though Leader Seol knows exactly what Kaya is doing. She’s playing to the crowd, and the elders are eating it up.

She then officially pays her respects to Daddy Shin before turning to Leader Seol with a small smile, “Isn’t it the custom of Chinese funerals to look directly at the face of the deceased to give a final farewell? Isn’t that so?”

Leader Seol’s expression grows grim, while the Elders chime in like proud fathers, all of them so proud of Kaya’s immersion into Chinese culture. They all agree that she’s right to request to see the body of Daddy Shin, which is of course the reaction she wanted.

Now Leader Seol is stuck between Kaya and a hard place, unaware that Baek-san is racing against the clock to bring the body to the funeral. But with the coffin in the room with them, it seems impossible to do a switcheroo…

Kaya acts too weak to open the coffin herself in order to purposefully enlist the all-too-ready elders to rush to her aid. And they do, in fact, open an empty coffin. Cue dramatic music and camera angles as everyone reacts in shock. “How could you hold a fake funeral without the deceased?!”

Just as Kaya readies to give her explanation as to the body’s whereabouts, Baek-san rushes in to “ask” if he can replace the fake casket with the real one now, making it sound as if they planned it.

Leader Seol explains his reasoning for having a fake casket in a way that makes Kaya look ignorant of Chinese culture, while also speaking to her directly about how he didn’t want whoever murdered Daddy Shin to desecrate the body. Huh. I wonder if he suspects it’s her.

Kaya is still suspicious, and asks to see the body in the real coffin. Leader Seol is more than confident and gives her the go-ahead.

They all gather around the coffin to open it… but it’s not Daddy Shin’s body that’s inside.

COMMENTS

Okay, so, I’m going to try (key word) and break down the who-has-the-body plot as I vaguely understood it, and as best I can: Daddy Shin’s body is the new MacGuffin—everyone wants it. Leader Seol wants to hold a funeral for Daddy Shin not just to honor him but also to impress an arbitrarily new organization which holds ultimate power, the full reach of which we’re only told about. Everyone acts like they’re incredibly important without delving into why or how, other than that they can make or break any gang in Shanghai and pretty much own the town. The rules surrounding the funeral suddenly become about who has the physical corpse, because having it equals power in Chilinbang’s eyes, which everyone suddenly cares about. A lot.

Though the funeral planned for Daddy Shin is that evening, and though the Chilinbang Elders have been invited, Jae-hwa devises a scheme to steal the body and hold a separate funeral, somehow, in order to keep Club Shanghai in operation—a club which we’ve maybe seen in operation once, and which has continually bloating importance that Really Matters to newly-introduced side characters. Again, it’s another thing that everyone talks up all the time but which has no relatable qualities to us, the audience, meaning that we get to spend an hour watching wooden characters like Leader Seol worry about an organization we’ve never met while operating under rules we don’t understand. (Yay!)

Meanwhile, Kaya guesses that Leader Seol plans to use the funeral and body to win over the Chilinbang Elders somehow maybe, and that the consequence will be her getting ousted from Shanghai, kind of. Since Daddy Shin’s body is now a tool for power plays and turf warfare, she decides to send her minions to steal the body in order to one-up Leader Seol, assuming that Chilinbang would turn against the fraudulent Hwangbang leader, see her with the body of the man they presumably knew (at least enough to know he had no ties with Ilgookhwe), and go, “Congratulations, you won! Here’s the key to Shanghai. It’s all yours.”

I get that Daddy Shin was a larger-than-life figure and that people would want to honor him, but I still don’t get why his body is everyone’s holy grail. The show didn’t either, so they literally just made up an all-encompassing reason why everyone who matters should care about owning that body—never mind that those elders would maybe start to suspect something after one sham funeral or two. Instead of personalizing this unique grieving process for Jung-tae (though he did have a nice moment to mourn his father, in his own way), he spent an entire episode having no idea that the corpse of his father was getting thrown around, fought over, and stolen. That’s how little that specific plot point affected our hero’s journey.

I’m hoping that Jung-tae was behind the newest disappearance of Daddy Shin’s body, if only because it’d mean that he got to make a decision. Even if he was getting into too many fights to save the children of the world, Jung-tae had things he cared about and was willing to fight for. But now he’s getting relegated more and more to being The Chosen One, continuously being pulled around by forces greater than him but which he has no affection for—and for what? What is it that Jung-tae really wants, when all is said and done?

February 21, 2014 at 6:30 AM

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Unfortunately, Song Jae Rim is done with this show according to official announcements. At least Mo wasn't explicitly stated to be dead (and unceremoniously offed off-screen like Kim Jae Wook) but was simply dumped after "his role as Jung Tae's benefactor and teacher was completed." *Cries*

February 21, 2014 at 4:27 AM

February 21, 2014 at 4:39 AM

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Ruined!!! Ruined! Ruined! Ruined! My intense fight scenes ruined by the slow effects and different music. I already anticipated that the writer of that terrible storyline in Cain and Abel could do no good - but this is worse. :(

February 21, 2014 at 9:38 PM

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The action feels very "Matrix" to me. A lot of flash and quick camera work but it doesn't feel real. The fight scenes in epi 1-10 were EPIC, larger than life. You actually believed these people could do this. Or at least it looked damn awesome! Now, it just looks like 'movie magic' that the Special Effects Dept cooked up. BOooooooo!!!!!

February 21, 2014 at 4:56 AM

You totally nailed everything i was thinking and couldn't quite frame in my brain. I just... I just.... Aigooo! I sense a subtle change in the whole story but am not sure what it is I'm sensing.

Is it that we moved from a series where a whole lotta stuff was happening to suddenly where one whole hour is spent on ONE odd way-outta-left-field issue? Maybe, maybe not.

Is it the feeling that this is almost like a whole new drama and the only thing tying the first 10 episodes with this is Jung Tae's dad and Gaya's anger? And just what is Gaya's problem anyway?

Both she and Jung Tae seem disconnected from their first motivations. Without his desire to help his sister, he's just drifting along from weird plot point to weird plot point. True, he's not the master of his own life now (or is he?) but even if he;s a lost soul in a world/power battle that he doesn't understand...he surely must have some goal he's after. But noooooooooo..everyone else has a goal and the hero is floundering. And Gaya...is she trying to find her mother's murderer? Heck, or even her father's murderer?

February 21, 2014 at 5:17 AM

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I agree with you, Carole. I don't know in which direction this show is going. I'm becoming increasingly bored with Gaya's scenes. They consist primarily of her speaking in a monotone voice, stone-faced. I don't see any depth. This could be due both to poor writing and the limitations of the actress. After all this time, we are still not privy to the inner workings of her mind. And what about Jungtae? Is he simply going to serve as a savior figure? A savior with no real motivation, just someone pushed along by everyone while walking around like a mindless zombie? I hate that this show has simply written off characters without even attempting to explain their disappearances in some logical (aka, within the internal logic of the story) way. Is anyone curious, for example, about what happened to Shinichi? I think that the gap in time only did this show a disservice. No developments (of character, etc.) really took place. There might as well have been no time skips.

February 21, 2014 at 6:03 AM

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This is one drama whic I feel almost deserved to be longer...so we could see the whole ensemble of cast and plot lines. I generally hate extensions but that would've worked better than shrinking plots and using 5 years to reduce/kill characters.

February 21, 2014 at 3:33 PM

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Gaya's character is the only one I'm not tired of. How I got it was that most of her motivation for finding either of her parents killer was opportunity. Before she didn't have that chance. She was just struggling to survive. After her father's death she was basically swept up with her grandfather's plans and took that opportunity to actually get some answers. I think she knows that even with her skill there is probably an easy chance to kill her. I see her as playing along because it's obvious that there are people watching her along with everyone as as seen from this ep (there are organizations higher and with larger powers) I think the best thing for her to do is to continue to play along because as I think she knows her parents killers are in her organization.

February 21, 2014 at 5:13 AM

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I feel like a kid who was on a trip with her parents and was suddenly left at a rest stop.

I don't know what's going on. Is Gaya doing anything for her revenge? What the heck is with Chung Ah? Is she out? What mission has Jung Tae anyway? There are so many sidestory for him that I lost focus which one's his priority. Really frustrating. I feel like this is slowly going down.

February 21, 2014 at 5:17 AM

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I am officially abandoning this train wreck. I did enjoy the first ten episodes, but after the production team have decided to drop major storylines and pretend like it does not matter ... my interest in this drama has plummeted . It is like watching a completely different show with the same name and actors, but different plot.

February 21, 2014 at 5:28 AM

February 21, 2014 at 5:46 AM

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I too can't find the words to explain to my mom why they are fighting for that dead body. I just told her..its just like that.. hehe..
Though its quite fun.. still I don't get it. A lot of unexplained things happened.. I sometimes think if I am paying less attention to the drama or its the drama itself.. still I am looking forward for Jungtae to step in and to know who else he can trust other than Ok-ryun...

February 21, 2014 at 5:57 AM

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Okay with the airing of ep 11 signifies the dawn of a new writer's tenure, and with it also comes changes. For better or worse, here are some of my thoughts with today's episode.

Firstly, the last ep preview had little relevance at all to today's ep, in fact nothing abt it seem to have carried over at all. One of my peeves last ep was how seemingly lacking jung tae is in training, and this ep seem to have just reinforced my fears, he literally had done nothing in 5 years (no il hwa training after all). Even this little scene which okryeon briefs him of what he has been missing does more to frustrate me bec it only affirms how clueless jung tae was. JT had 0 development in his numerous quests and reaponsibilities, and yet he sets to embark yet another quest to find his father's killer? Dude you've bitten more than what you can eat already.

Another gripe which I have the last time was also how the plot reduced OR role, and that too was further confirmed, with her being stuck at a 5 year of insignificant development, worse they made her regress and turned her into a water heater girl. Chincha?!

Now enough with the negatives, there were some good things in this ep too, and who else is knocking at your door? Why it is hwang baek san kicking richard simmons. Did they mention that they were gonna reduce the fight scenes? I didn't feel it all, what with baek san serving enough richard simmons beating per frame that will make any fanboy go 'hell yeah!', and ajhummas shake their heads and heave in 'aighoos' collectively.

There was some fast paced action, unfortunately it's an illusion to say that the plot is running as fast as it should be. My last critic of today's ep is how much time is being burned at this funeral, I expected it to have wrapped up in one ep but we were left with a mini cliffhanger and preview which indicates that this could still drag on until the next ep. I don't know but I'm just eager to see them get on track with the main plot already, since we have only 9 eps left, and if we're to follow the previous writer's pace then they are way behind, what with jung tae seemingly still confused by ep 11. I'm being cautiously optimistic that things will pick off by ep 13. C'mon Age fighting!

February 21, 2014 at 5:58 AM

Ugh, don't tell me that there's some sort of skinship relationship with the gangster Boss wanna be Jae-hwa. Doc, you can do better than that.

Leader (?) Seol: He really doesn't seem worthy of leading anyone or or anything. If he has contacts or resources, they're wasted on him. No wonder Jae-hwa is trying to make his power play. He does have a bad ass kung fu guy at his disposal though.

Chilinbang: Those guys didn't exactly exude omnipotence. The spokesman (?) of the group obviously thought Princess Gaya was hot, but the rest of them, meh.

So-So: I thought she wanted to jump Jung-tae when she saw his abs.

Off to watch Episode 12. Please Jung-tae , don't pick up an interest in basketball.

February 21, 2014 at 6:25 AM

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Sorry to all the Mo Il-Hwa fans (myself included), but KBS has officially stated that Song Jae Rim has finished filming for the drama, so there will be no Mo scenes (see what I did there?) from this point on. The "preview" from episode 10 showing Mo training Jung Tae was actually a cut scene from episode 9, which they squeezed in as a "preview" to wrap up Mo's story arc. I'm furious to see how badly they've handled both Song Jae Rim and Kim Jae-Wook's characters but hopefully this means the two are now free to take on projects more worthwhile of their talents, preferably in lead roles. I hear that new vampire sageuk is in the works, heheh, and those two would definitely be good candidates for the lead vampire roles :D

February 21, 2014 at 6:27 AM

February 21, 2014 at 6:35 AM

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Tell me about it. I think I'm just going to read the recaps from now on if this is how they're handling all their side characters. Sorry to the KHJ fans, but the main leads just aren't doing much for me, and Gaya's gotten even more one-dimensional as the yakuza lady enforcer.

February 21, 2014 at 6:54 AM

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Wow. I could not disagree with you guys more if I tried. Granted, I was unaware that Mo was officially out of the picture, but I did assume there'd be more than Kim Jae Wook. (Bye Mo..this makes me sad.)

My analysis from before still stands - the massive cast and multiple story lines were not going to be sustainable, budget or skill-wise. Even though they did a BANG-UP job with those first ten episodes, I accept this as a reality. It's a shame because MAN that's a story I'd like to see done well, but hey - it was: in the manhwa. I guess this adaptation is going to narrow focus.

I did not find the episode boring or confusing at all. I have a few quibbles with the slow motion SOUND effects, but remember that the SHOW didn't make the fight changes for stylistic reasons: they did it in response to complaints from US, the viewers. Some of us, anyway. Definitely not me. Bring on the bloody half naked men, I always say.

The entire hour outlined very clearly - for me anyway - the mad dash to scramble for control of 'Shanghai'. Young Chul happens to have died at a pivotal moment and since he's a larger than life figure, all parties intend to use him as symbol. Jung Tae wandered into this innocent as a new-born, when you look at it that way. How could he possibly have a clue?

I found a LOT of humor in the way this was told because really, it IS a ridiculous situation although it's deadly serious to those involved. As for Jung Tae - he's slowly being awakened to broader concerns than just his own. Give it time. His role has always been that of the Hero. Let's let him get there. We can afford to give him one episode to mourn the dad he didn't even realize he loved while he figures out how important the guy was to everyone else.

I'm not going to focus on the side plots that don't exist anymore. There's no point. I'm going to focus on how well they tell the main story, which has ALWAYS been Jung Tae. So far, A+

February 21, 2014 at 7:30 AM

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It's not THAT they're cutting out tons of side characters; I expected as much for a cast this big. It's HOW they're doing it - abruptly, no proper conclusions to their story arcs, and with very little respect for the actors portraying those roles and the audience who have invested in the side characters and their storylines.

February 21, 2014 at 9:18 AM

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`As for Jung Tae – he’s slowly being awakened to broader concerns than just his own. Give it time. His role has always been that of the Hero. Let’s let him get there. We can afford to give him one episode to mourn the dad he didn’t even realize he loved while he figures out how important the guy was to everyone else.'

Wow very well said!! you did what the recapper couldn't or won't do ... really pay attention and give the story time to develope or move ... not every scene is going to be the same.

February 21, 2014 at 2:18 PM

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Time - is no longer a luxury for the show. The story spent 10 episodes building what we could only have expected, at that time, a meaty connection to the many motivations of characters, who were unfortunately phased out from the Shineuijoo arc, which would have served in moving forward the plot to what eventually would push Jungtae to come to Shanghai and be the hero he was meant to be. Too much time were spent on the many dealings, and hush-hush conversations, and what is obviously being set up as connections from Shineuijoo to Shanghai itself, but all of that were instantaneously severed. Whatever time that was invested on the past 10 eps could have been still used as a foundation to progress the plot for the remaining cour of the show, but unfortunately, it was garbaged. I'm afraid from this point forward, a huge part of the plot will just feel contrived because they will have to literally be written into existence for the sake of finishing the show, which could have been avoided, had they made a smoother transition by using what was established in the past 10 eps - which was very good by the way.

February 21, 2014 at 10:01 AM

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Well said, JoAnne. Finally someone I can agree with.

I have to admit that the closure of some characters should've been done better, and I can see why it feels like a different drama since we're dealing with whole new setting and characters. For sure I'm gonna miss the old characters (hope Mo Il Hwa and Boss Hwang will re-appear someday...) but this drama is the story of Jung Tae's life journey, not anyone else's. I'm still enjoying this journey.

One lesson learned: Don't get too attached to any of the side characters.

February 21, 2014 at 11:48 AM

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bulleye!this is correct.im not confused at how the epi was presented.they were fighting, not for the physical body but for what it synbolize.the story is about jung tae's life journey so its inevitable that some side characters will be out of the picture or eventually out focused in his journey.that the drama of life,as we live we met and lost people along the way.

February 22, 2014 at 12:21 AM

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Thank you for your comment You said a lot of things I want to say.

I find that it's more fun to go along with the story that the writer have to say rather get upset when the story fail our expectation. t first I had some source of expectation too but I stop it now. i found it 's more fun this way because I less obsessed with thing. Even though i miss Il Hwa but I think it's O.K just give me what's happen to him.

Because of 5 years that was skipped anything could happen in those 5 years such as all the Dobi Gang was vanished by the Japanese before the could gather with Il hwa or they got sick and died or..... The problem is viewers need to be informed sooner or later it's not big deal because the present time's story is more important and need to be focused.

We have seen the development of Gaya character compares to the past 5 years. However the development of the other main characters such as JT and OR also important and need to be more focused .

February 22, 2014 at 11:41 AM

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i got hooked by this drama after i watched the first ep im not even a fan of any of the leads but i was just amazed by khj transformation. he's so different now compared to his bof days. i never found him appealing before but now im like head over heels haha! now that the side characters are gone i hope to see more scenes of jung tae and ok ryeon. i love this couple. as long as they will end up at the end of the story which i think the will. fighting!!!

February 22, 2014 at 5:32 PM

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Non of your critiques oppose the ones that the recapper or the commenters have made of people in power and being important and we don't know about it firsthand and corpses having significance for reasons.

We know what's going on. The why of the matter is just a non-entity. I don't understand what's so hard to grasp about that. The only thing that I agree with that you said is that Jung Tae really shouldn't know anything, but these new plot developments have no rendered that 5 year jump more unnecessary than it already was. Not only has he gotten no training at all(you can't disagree with that) and he's been wandering doing absolutely nothing that we know of, NOW there's a huge upheaveal in power structures and his dad just died and he's left even more clueless in the dust than he already was and not even attempting to figure out things. He's just being fed information. And the writer is clearly doing it soley for the "hero born from understanding the wrongs around him" trope.

February 21, 2014 at 7:00 AM

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I was happy to see Kim Jae Wook in the drama, now he's out. I liked that Yoon Hyun Min was cast in the drama..i barely see him anymore. Even though Kim Hyun Joong is the main caracter and he acts really well i thought by now his caracter would learn how to kick ass .... and last...I have to admit, i was watching the drama for Song Jae Rim, and now he's out to..just like that..vanished..at least give us a proper ending something...

February 22, 2014 at 4:33 AM

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You are not watching the drama as a full package. But you watch song jae rim....no wonder you never enjoy the drama....so sad.Wish that song jae rim will be lead in other drama so so can watch him til end. I kind of like him too...a bit.

February 22, 2014 at 2:28 PM

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tp disappointed fans of the side characters ...just pray that your favorite will be the leading character on their next drama so that he or she will survive till the end . lead role equals greater responsibility and exprctations but at least quarantied survival till the end.haha

February 21, 2014 at 7:20 AM

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From what I read they said Mo Il Hwa isn't completely out of the picture but since he has served his purpose as the one who brought JT to China & his 2nd mentor in honing his fighting skills, they don't have any more story to tell about MIH.
They said they don't have any future plan for his character yet but there's high possibility he will appear again.. Someday.

But no idea why they cut down that scene of JT training with MIH.. I was really looking forward to it.

February 21, 2014 at 7:36 AM

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Of course they won't completely rule out SJR's return in an official announcement. It'd be like shooting yourself in the foot if the audience and SJR express enough of an interest in having him return. Realistically though he's probably not coming back, except maybe for a brief cameo near the end. He's currently filming a movie which is supposed to go until April, the same time that IG finishes airing.

February 21, 2014 at 7:23 AM

well... from now on.. i'll just enjoy d'story n not focusing only in particular characters.... (don't want more disappointment or sadness)

for me, so far d'storyline is fine...and diz just started (i hope so) .. i don't think diz storyline nonsense..

jungtae's father corpse here mayb means so much for labour society, dat we now....it may gives big impact to shanghai's politics... and as new comer there, in makes sense dat jungtae is clueless about what everyone's wanted and still it's normal dat he's as alone there looks disoriented n unpurposed...

mayb he learns bout fighting but lack in strategies. anyway..thanks a lot for d'recaps... and AoF's fighting!!!

February 21, 2014 at 7:38 AM

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The whole tone of the show has changed starting with this episode (and #12 as well).

Isn't it enough that they had to kill off/remove our favorite characters? Then they announce they are going reduce the fighting scenes. Now they seem to be turning this show into a show about politics - but without any real explanations behind the politics or the characters' motivations.

I didn't sign on for politics. I signed on for Age of Beatings with a fire-sale on flower boys (thanks Dramabeans for that phrase).

February 21, 2014 at 8:08 AM

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The tone of this episode felt "off" and very, very jarring. You could sense the change in writer by watching this episode. At first, I had to question myself if I felt the change in tone because I knew of the change in writers, or if the tone was truly jarring. And I've concluded that it is the latter.

It feels inconsistent, though they are using most of the same characters, but the story arc seems strange. I couldn't bring myself to care about the characters who were fighting (usually I root for one gang or the other) but not in this case, and I can't shake the feeling that the fight scenes are filmed a little differently than they were in previous episodes.

Why is there so much emphasis on the body of Jung-tae's father when not much time was spent on him when alive? I don't know and the story didn't bother to explain. Why is it so important for one to be in possession of his body? - this struck me as quite morbid.

Where are all my favorite characters like Mo Il-Hwa, Shinichi, Aka, Aoki, Hwang Bong-Sik, Do-goo? It's OK and understandable for them to be missing in one or two episodes, but three consecutive episodes feels somewhat fishy.

Even Gaya felt inconsistent - I'm used to seeing her in the Kimono, but she changes to English dress and even Chinese ceremonial outfits (though they explained it). On it's own, it's a nice change, but coupled with all the other changes - it really feels quite jarring.

February 21, 2014 at 9:05 AM

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Interesting points -

1. The fight scenes ARE different. This is not due to the writer change but due to complaints from Korean citizens who felt the violence was excessively bloody.
2. There is so much emphasis on the body now when there wasn't much emphasis on the man, because until now, really, neither we nor Jung Tae were fully aware of how important a figure he had been to so many. We knew a lot of people helped Jung Tae BECAUSE of his father, but not why. Now we're learning why, and that we only saw the tip of the iceberg. Not all is revealed at once.
3. Time has gone by. The location has changed. It would be nonsensical to expect that everyone Jung Tae knew as a boy and younger man would just up and all end up in Shanghai. That doesn't happen in real life, and when it happens in a drama we make fun of it. So why would anyone expect it here? *
4. Gaya is ALL about the psychology of manipulation. Everything she does has a reason for why it is done that specific way. She uses clothing to impart a message. Traditional Japanese attire? She is loyal to Denkai and Il Gook Hwa. Western clothing? Subordinates better realize that it's a new day and she calls the shots. Chinese clothing? She wanted ChirinBang swooning at her feet after that funeral because she'll need them if she wants to cut out her rivals. Looks like she succeeded.

*Losing characters we loved could have been handled better, yes. I can't pretend to know what actually precipitated the change behind the scenes or how drastic things were, but lots of people with lots more time and money invested in this than I have made the decisions the way they made them for a reason. I'm not going to worry about it. I'll miss them, but I want to see what happens next more than I want to bemoan my losses.

February 21, 2014 at 3:45 PM

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That's why Gaya is my favorite. I see her as a breath of fresh air. While this is a physical drama (and she can play that game too) she gets by a lot with her head. It's getting kind of old having everyone solve their problems through a pointless fight scene and then in the end nothing even gets solved.

February 21, 2014 at 8:14 AM

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so, the parts where oh ra or whatever is her name singing ang dancing are cancel ?? because the whole storyline is changing ? ehhh its sort of sad because a realy like this drama, or mayby the first part :(

February 21, 2014 at 9:23 AM

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The emphasis is not on Daddy Shin's body but on what he represented when he was alive. He ran the Shanghai Club only so he could take care of the displaced people. That was the deal he made with Leader Seol. The Shanghai Club, if people remember in the previous episodes, was a place that those needing to hide out from arrest and stuff could go without fear of detection and it was a place to do behind the scenes business. That's why Leader Seol became so angry when Jae-hwa let Gaya and her crew "rent" it. The reason they all want to hold the funeral for Daddy Shin is to show that they were the ones in charge all along. Jae-hwa wants it so he can be a big wig and to take the money it brings in and Leader Seol so he can do the same with Jung Tae as he did his father (use him for protection because of his desire to help the people) and to show the Chilinbang that he runs things just fine around here. Whoever has his funeral will essentially have control. Poor Jung Tae is completely clueless but I have no doubt he will figure it out eventually.

As for the Chilinbang, this is Shanghai so of course you are going to have a Chinese organization and if you want anything done "officially" you have to have their approval. You have to keep in mind that for a lot of us the different culture and different times can cause some "huh" moments but knowing the history of that time would help considerably to those who are having a hard time understanding. I had to go and read up a bit myself.

No offense but I personally believe, if some people would stop focusing so much on just certain characters and focus on the story itself, it might be a lot more enjoyable for you. I also hate to lose characters that I like and I do wish they would actually show their departures so we could get some closure (that's the only thing about the 5 year time skip that irks me) but I am watching for the story and will continue to do so as long as it keeps progressing and remains interesting, which in my opinion, even though the pace was considerably slower, is exactly what the last 2 episodes did.

February 21, 2014 at 10:32 AM

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People (mostly the new characters) are coming out of the woodwork to mourn and pay homage to Shin Young-Chool.

For years Shin Jung-Tae and Shin Chung-A suffered and struggled just to make ends meet, to feed themselves, to pay for medicine/medical expenses, and to save up enough money for her life-saving surgery.

I can't help but ask where were all these people? Many of whom had the means to offer assistance (especially financial support) to Shin Jung-Tae and Shin Chung-A.

Age of Feeling appears to be headed into dissatisfying territory and toward a more gloomy atmosphere. First a Head Writer change was made, last week we received news of Kim Jae-Wook's sudden departure, and today it was announced that Song Jae-Rim (as Mo Il-Hwa) has departed from the drama.

My initial reactions to Episode 11:

1) Shin Jung-Tae was in self-defense mode. He was defending himself from an unwarranted attack and justified in using the force of his fists.

2) You haven't seen him in 5 years. He was your first crush/love of your life. It's a little too late to start scolding or nagging him about fighting now. It would have been better if you had joined Shin Chung-A when she expressed her sentiments and displeasure regarding his constant fighting.

3) Did Kim Ok-Ryeon lose brain cells? It's old news by now that he always ends up fighting as a result of trying to defend women, to protect or rescue others wrongly mistreated, or either trying to fend for himself.

Heck, there was a time you couldn’t wait for him to fight on your behalf. It was the time Kim Soo-Ok approached you as you waited for Jung-Tae to return back to town. For better or worse...You blatantly know the type of guy that Jung Tae is and what you are getting with him. Really there is no excuse for acting surprised or disappointed that he is constantly getting into fights. It simply doesn't balance out. Due to your extensive acquaintance with Jung-Tae, you knew what you were signing up for to begin with.

4) After 5 years, Kim Ok-Ryeon seems to have undergone a total 180˚change when it comes to automatically giving Jung-Tae the benefit of the doubt about his fighting escapades.

5) I hope the new writer doesn't turn Kim Ok-Ryeon into an irritating “Candy.”

February 21, 2014 at 1:47 PM

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It's better fleshed out by ep 12 why Okryeon is acting the way she is right now, but yes I do agree with you on one thing though, OR shouldn't be surprised that Jungtae is still fighting, however - she is merely expressing her FRUSTRATION at him. She explained later on the episode how Jungtae left and have not sent even a single word back to her. It's 1936, telephones already existed, forget that, even snail mail would have sufficed, yet Jungtae never, not even once bothered and contacted her. Ofcourse within the context of her own experiences, she has just lost her mother, the ajhussi, and a good friend in So Ok - she has gone through a lot **which will be further expounded again by ep 12** and she waited for him for 5 years in vain. In her eyes, Jungtae left because of a fight (as always) and to see him still fighting even during their reunion, she was just exasperated.

Unfortunately, the writer is turning her into something worst than a 'candy' - they have changed a once happy character into a miserable one, because they felt that she was too bright for the show (as I read on an article regarding her change), and it did not fit to the over all tone - I call bull manure on it.

February 21, 2014 at 11:06 AM

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I stopped watching after reading about the writer change, but judging from the comments here, I'm sure many people had this reaction after they finished this episode, the first one without the main writer:

February 21, 2014 at 12:42 PM

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For me , there is not much difference compared to the last episode when it comes to the pace of the story. Maybe some of us are just overreacting to the change of the writer and also to add up losing of one character. I think most of us are anticipating it's going to be bad that's why our reaction to this episode is a little bit judgemental. As for me, i'll still continue watching this drama coz im so invested with the plot of the story. I want to know why JT's dad leave them like that, also who will JT end up with, etc.. I have a lot of questions that needs to be answered. This drama for me is way way much better than the overrated Heirs..

February 21, 2014 at 1:29 PM

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I think everything is better than heirs. But yeah you are right is so early to say , I was confused every episode, just I'm more confused now.
It bothers me what they are doing with the fighting scenes, or what they are doing with some characters. But what I really want is Jung Tae to focus because I can't see what he want, it seems like he never asked about Ok Ryun, or de Dobi gang, or his sister, ok he is in Shangai to know about his sister (I think that was his motivation more than what Leader Seol told him about his father) but he isn't doing anything about it maybe is because he hadn't the chance but I want him to do something.

February 21, 2014 at 10:55 PM

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Changing writer is the most difficult part of the drama .If the drama still going on and carry on the story line than that"s great.Slightly confuse the story line doesn't matter...since all the actor did a good job.All IG staff go head...

February 22, 2014 at 2:53 AM

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"if some people would stop focusing so much on just certain characters and focus on the story itself, it might be a lot more enjoyable for you"

Totally in agreement here.

I guess I'm in the minority cuz I tend to watch a drama without being overly critical or analysing every single nuance or whatever in every episode. I'd just enjoy the ride & if I were to find it's not to my taste, I'd drop it. No need for stress since it's make-believe after all.

February 22, 2014 at 4:49 AM

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See I was trying to figure out what this show is aiming for as in heres what I mean. With YWCFTS we are all holding our breath and praying the whole am an alien ur a human I have to go back you obviously cant come with me situation gets resolved-minus any anguish. With INR3 its all about whether she'll learn to truly fall in love and be loved or sth like that. I could list all shows am currently watching and what the main 'thing' is-i dont wanna call it a theme. But then what about this show? If what they are going for is who will ultimately rule the streets then they are doing an awful job of making me care who wins-get it together show!
Ps: and where's that guy that was working for Shinichi and became Kaya's dog? Is he out too? Aigoo...just replace the whole cast while ur at it, why dont u?! Infact change the genre too-melo?!!